Day 186 - Retail Therapy

We are yet to get a handover date but from what we can see we shouldn't be too far away now!

It has been some time since my last post. The painters and tilers have finished and the electricians have also put their final touches to the house - I am sure they will be back to fix things!

I went past the house today to find the floorboards are being laid. Looking from the windows outside (house is now locked), the floorboards had been laid in the dining room only so there was a bit more work to go.  It was a hard to decision to make at the time - floorboards or tiles?  But we came to the conclusion that floorboards (Bamboo) would make the house feel warmer and possibly easier to keep clean.

It's great to see everything come together.  Even though I had taken photos of our colour choices it was so long ago that I had forgotten what we had chosen. This also applies to the handles and mixers. I am really happy with the bathrooms.  The tiles look fantastic.  I am glad we followed the advice of the guys at Beaumont Tiles and just stuck to the one tile/design. It's true what they told us.  You can always add and change accessories to the bathrooms but once you choose different patterns or designs in the tiles you are stuck with them forever. That's not to say you won't love them forever but for me I like things simple and the tiles are just that! 

So why the heading Retail Therapy?  Well since we are getting closer to handover we decided to go shopping for furniture on the weekend and we ended up buying a lounge, dining table. chairs and a bedroom suite for my daughter's room.  Tick, Tick and Tick!

I love shopping - who doesn't?  But I have to tell you it was pretty exhausting travelling around town negotiating on the best deal.

I know most people like to see photos of the house and where everything is at so below are some pictures of the house so far.

Ensuite - we have light!



Feature wall - insert fireplace here.



Main bathroom - porcelain tiles

Day 170 - All Coming Together

We met with our SS on Friday to go through the house.
 
The house was abuzz with painters and tilers busy working on the house. Whilst we were there we also found time to get a quote for the window furnishings. I wasn't too sure what we were going to go with - so much to choose from. Curtains, roller blinds, plantation shutters!
 
We finally settled on the idea of getting a variety of furnishings for the windows which will compliment each room.  I am still going through the quotation process so I'll give you more details on my choice and who I chose when this is finalised.  I am looking at getting a few quotes (I figure I have the time so no need to rush).
 
A combination of double roller blinds with pelmets, plantation shutters and curtains is where I am headed.  I have no idea of colours as yet.  I was hoping to make this decision after the floorboards are installed.  This should help us make a more informed decision.
 
Overall the house is coming together.  The painting has made a huge difference to the feel of the house. Our SS is still reluctant to give us an estimated handover date.  We are hoping for December.  It would be great to get into the house before Christmas.  I would also like to start locking away a landscaper so that our Alfresco area and front yard can be worked on during the Summer.

After all this time we now have to pull up our sleeves and start getting organised. Below are some photos we took on Friday of the house so far.  We were very excited to see the tiling, or what has been done so far.



Looking into the living room - love those picture windows. Waiting for the fireplace to be installed on the wall. Paint colour is Grand Piano Half - Ceiling and Cornice is in Natural White.



Living room - cabinetry still be finished - as mentioned before waiting patiently for the fireplace.



 

Master bedroom



Ensuite - we have tiles - porcelain to be exact!




"So you don't want the standard range?"

Today we had our tile selection at Beaumont Tiles.

Let's just say we had to shake that money tree again...really hard!

I was really disappointed with Metricon's range of standard tiles. All of the standard range were ceramic tiles..which were ok, but if you wanted tiles bigger than 400x400 then there was nothing to choose from.

I knew we were going to have to upgrade even before I walked in the store, because I wanted porcelain tiles. But I never thought it was going to be so expensive.

I have to say the service at Beaumont Tiles was fantastic. We got the right advice and the team was very helpful in choosing the tiles for our bathroom, Ensuite, laundry and portico.

Our appointment went for just over an hour and I think our choices were spot on.

We kept it very simple and decided to go without any feature look within the tiling. Not sure why, but the Beaumont staff were pretty adamant that most people don't do feature tiling anymore because once it goes in it's really hard & costly to change it. We decided to go with the 600x600 floor tiles and rectangle tiles (same colour) on the walls.

See pics below for our tile selection.